


The House On The Hill

by cordeliadelayne



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel and Sam teaming up, Drama, Gen, Kidnapping, POV Castiel, castiel and sam friendship, rescuing Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 07:38:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8277958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cordeliadelayne/pseuds/cordeliadelayne
Summary: When Dean goes missing Sam and Castiel team up to find him. As usual, things don’t go according to plan.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for xeyra as part of the Fall Fandom Free-For-All.
> 
> Originally posted to Livejournal in 2009.

“He took me to a den of iniquity”.

It was the first thing that Castiel had said in hours and, not unsurprisingly, took Sam by surprise.

“Dean?” he asked, if only because he suddenly wanted the silence to end. And really, who else would Castiel have been talking about?

“Yes. When we were planning on capturing Raphael. He didn’t want me to die a virgin.”

Castiel was so very matter of fact about it that Sam was glad that he wasn't drinking. Instead he laughed softly to himself and gripped even tighter to the steering wheel.

It had been 24 hours since Dean had gone missing and it still felt like they were no closer to finding him. Castiel’s Enochian sigil protection was all very well and good, but it did have its downsides. Like having to find his missing brother the much slower and old-fashioned way.

And since when did having an angel on tap become so common place?

“I couldn’t go through with it,” Castiel said before Sam had time to ask. “I fear that I may have disappointed him.”

Sam looked over at Castiel briefly and then turned back to the road. He wasn't really sure what he could say to that. Their lives are _weird_. But at least normally he has his brother to roll his eyes at, to make everything seem sort of normal. In that patent-pending fucked-up Winchester kind of way.

“I’m sure he understood,” Sam said. “Dean wouldn’t make you do anything you didn’t want to.”

There was a weight to his words that he hadn't quite meant to put there. He couldn't help but feel that Castiel was still mad at them, mad at _him_. He’d been so focused on himself and his relationship with his brother, how his actions had impacted on Castiel had never really been something he wanted to think about.

That Castiel had lost everything because of him and Dean was just one more burden on their shoulders they could do without.

“I know,” Castiel said softly. Sam wasn’t sure exactly what he was responding to, and nearly asked him to stay out of his head. But he couldn’t bring himself to snap at the angel; he was looking as forlorn as Sam felt.

“We’re nearly there, anyway,” Sam said.

“I don’t believe Dean is dead,” Castiel told him. His expression hardly changed, but Sam could feel the swell of emotion in his voice.

“But you don’t know for sure,” Sam said. He hated that he was playing devil’s advocate. In more ways than one.

“No, I don’t know anything for sure, Sam.” He turned to look at the younger Winchester. “That’s why it’s called Faith.”

Sam’s lips twitched into an almost smile. “Right. Point well made.”

Castiel’s phone rang and he answered it smoothly; Sam supposed he’d been getting quite a lot of practice with it lately.

“This is Castiel…I see. Have they…of course…FBI? Yes, I’m sure Sam has some ID we can use. Thank you.”

“Bobby?” Sam asked.

Castiel nodded. “He says the police are expecting two FBI agents and that the blood work matches that of a known criminal.”

Sam shook his head. “Let me guess? Dean Winchester?”

“It seems the demon was telling the truth. Dean was taken as a sacrifice.” It was usually hard to tell what Castiel was thinking, but either Sam was getting better at reading the angel, or he was so upset he couldn’t mask his emotions.

“But there wasn’t enough blood, was there?”

“No. There is that.”

Sam nodded. “Right. So, we go to the police station, we ask around. Somebody’s bound to have an idea of what happened.”

Castiel nodded once, but he didn’t say another word for the rest of the drive.

#####

Sam pulled up by the side of the police station and told Castiel to wait while he changed into a more appropriate shirt and tie. Then he fished through his bag for some ID for himself and Castiel. Finally satisfied he turned back to the car to see that Castiel had taken him at his word and not moved an inch. When this was over he and Dean were really going to need to work on that.

“Cas, you ready to go?”

“Certainly,” Castiel replied and without opening the door he was suddenly standing next to Sam.

“Right,” Sam said, “you might not want to do that when there are a lot of people around.” He paused and looked at the angel who was serenely standing before him, waiting for instruction. He could see why Dean got so freaked out by it. “And when we talk to the detective in charge, just don’t…”

“Mention demons?” Castiel interrupted, a small smile tugging at his lips. “Yes, I have learned my lesson. When gathering information it is necessary to lie.”

Sam opened his mouth to object but then closed it again. Really, what was the point?

“Okay then, let’s get moving.”

Castiel walked closer to Sam than Sam was strictly comfortable with, and earned them a few glances, but other than that things went smoothly. Castiel even managed to hold his badge the right way up first time (though Sam had to stifle a grin as he remembered Dean’s re-enactment of the last time Castiel played at being an FBI agent).

Thankfully the detective in charge, Courtney, didn’t seem to think anything was out of order as he asked them both to sit down and, once the pleasantries had been dealt with, they got down to business.

“So, Detective Courtney, if you could just lead us through what you already know…” Sam prompted.

“Sure. It’s the third crime scene like it. Satanists, probably.”

“Satanists?” Sam asked, trying to keep his tone neutral.

“Oh, sure, teenagers getting into drugs, messing around, rebelling. The church is very big here. Very big.”

“Ok…ay,” Sam replied. The way the detective was staring at Castiel was starting to make him uncomfortable, though Castiel himself didn’t seem particularly concerned.

“So they go up to this old, supposedly haunted house. Have some beers, kick back with their music. Mess around with knifes. There wasn’t enough blood to indicate anything worse than a nose bleed. I don’t really see why it’s an FBI matter.”

“One of the blood samples made a red flag on our system. You mind if we go check out the haunted house?”

“Sure.” The detective started to write the address down on a piece of paper and then handed it, and his card, to Castiel. “Feel free to call me. Anytime.”

Castiel merely nodded and took the offered card. Sam warred between amusement and the over riding need to protect “Dean’s angel”.

Thankfully his common sense won out and he merely steered Castiel out of the police station by the elbow.

“I do not believe that Satanists were involved.”

“No, me either,” Sam replied, not really paying attention. “Does anything strike you as a little weird?”

“Many of your customs are still strange to me, Sam. What in particular did you have in mind?”

“Well, that.” He pointed in the general direction of the high street. Outside of every one of the small shops and standing by every car parked on the road, the residents of the small town were staring at them. Not moving, not talking, just staring.

“That does seem odd, yes,” Castiel said.

“They’re not demons?”

“No. I would be able to sense it if they were.” He paused and Sam thought he heard the slightest flutter of feathers. “There does seem to be a large amount of magical energy in the area, however. Most of it centred over there.”

Castiel turned to face the large house on the hill that dominated the skyline.

“Of course,” Sam muttered. “I’ll be fine on my own, Sam, a little salt and burn Sammy, wait for me at Bobby’s Sammy, you have important fighting-the-apocalypse research to do…”

He trailed off once he realised that Castiel was watching him closely, head tilted in curiosity.

“Let’s go check out the haunted house, shall we?” He straightened his jacket and waited till Castiel had got into the hired car before he shook his head.

He had no idea how Dean coped with the angel all the time. None at all.

####

Sam could quite easily see why the house on top of the hill had a reputation as being haunted; it certainly had that dilapidated air to it. The broken windows, artificial cobwebs and walls daubed with red painted pentagrams screamed Hollywood horror.

“These symbols are useless,” Castiel said. He stepped towards one and rubbed it with his finger. Fresh red paint came off.

“Yeah,” Sam said, voice muffled by the fact that he had his head in the trunk of the car. “They’re not there for summoning, but to keep curious people out.” He started rooting around for appropriate weapons. He’d just reached for some ammo when a garbled shout and the sound of a scuffle made him start to back out. He wasn’t quick enough though, and before he could do or say anything, the world turned dark.

####

“Hey, Sleeping Beauty! Wake up!”

Sam groaned and then slowly opened his eyes. He was on the ground, his hands tied and attached to the wall behind him.

“About frigging time.”

“Dean?” Sam asked. “Are you okay?” He flexed his muscles and tried to move, but it was no good.

“Oh yeah, I’m doing great, nice of you to stop by. How do you think I’m doing?”

Sam sighed. It couldn’t be that bad if Dean was complaining about it. Though now Sam could see his brother a bit better he noticed that he had a swollen lip and a right eye to match.

“What do they want?”

Dean shot Sam a look that clearly said “you’re not going to believe this.” “They want to summon Lucifer.”

Sam shook his head and huffed a despondent laugh. “Do they know he’s already out?”

Dean snorted. “I’m not sure anybody bothered to send them the memo.” He wriggled a little more with the chain tying him to the wall opposite Sam. “They were trying to use my blood to open some sort of portal, but I guess it didn’t work.”

“You think these guys are the real deal then?”

Dean shrugged. “The devil's trap they’ve got set up upstairs is real enough.” He looked over at his brother. “Tell me you didn’t come here alone?”

Sam started to shake his head and then looked around the room; only he and Dean were there. “No, Cas came with me.”

“Cas? Really?”

“He was worried about you too,” Sam replied. “You didn’t see him?”

“No,” Dean said, slowly. Sam waited, he could almost hear the cogs in Dean’s brain whirring. “You know, if they found out that he’s a…” He tried to make a wings flapping gesture with his hands and winced when the chain rubbed against them.

Sam nodded. “We need to make sure he’s okay.”

They started pulling at their chains in earnest now, trying to find a way to remove them, but they were forced to stop when they heard heavy footsteps outside. A man entered and stood in the doorway, a lascivious grin on his face. Sam’s stomach plummeted. It was the detective they'd met earlier.

“Well hello again,” the detective purred. “I was a little worried that two missing Feds would bring trouble down on us, but…” He opened his hand and let dozens of Sam’s fake ids fall to the ground. “I guess that won’t be a problem, will it?

“I told people I was coming here,” Sam said. “Someone will be looking for us.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, Bobby knew roughly where they were.

“Really?” Courtney said, not looking at all convinced. “I don’t think they’ll be any threat to our Lord and Master.”

“Lucifer?” Dean scoffed. “You really think he’s going to be bothered by the bunch of two-bit amateurs in this freak-show? Trust me, he’s got bigger fish to fry.”

“Like your angel friend, you mean?”

“Angel? What angel?” Dean asked. Courtney backhanded him across the face, splitting his lip again. “Oh, that angel,” Dean responded, spitting blood on to the floor. “Now I remember.”

“Take them upstairs,” the detective told two heavy set men that had been lurking behind him in the doorway. “I want them to see this.”

Dean and Sam looked over at each other and Sam minutely shook his head. They’d have a better chance of escape upstairs and besides, they had Castiel’s safety to worry about now too.

#####

Upstairs they found Castiel standing in the middle of a devil's trap. It should have no effect on an angel, so they couldn’t understand why he hadn’t just left. Until they caught sight of a woman being held in the corner of the room, a knife pressed into her neck.

“They assure me that she will be killed if I refuse to co-operate. And I have no reason to believe they are lying.”

“Silence!” The detective shouted.

“They also do not believe me when I say that the devil's trap is not complete,” Castiel continued, completely ignoring the detective who was starting to turn slightly red in the face at the interruption. Castiel kept his gaze on Sam who stared back at him, trying to work out what the angel was suggesting. Castiel was far harder to read than his brother and Sam hadn’t had much chance to develop any kind of shorthand with him.

It surprised him that he even wanted to.

One thing they both did know, however, was that if Courtney and his men were paying attention to them, then they weren’t paying attention to the way Dean was squirreling out of his bonds and sneaking towards the hostage.

“Some ancient magic requires angel’s blood in order to work. Especially that which is used to summon another angel.” He subtly drew attention to his arm and Sam could see that some blood was already dripping down his hand and on to the floor. “And there are certain symbols which need to be inverted, in order to create an even greater source of power.”

“Right,” Sam said slowly. He turned to face Courtney. “He’s right. That symbol,” he said as he pointed to a generic symbol drawn on the floor, “is upside down. If you really want to bring Lucifer here, you need to change it.”

The detective regarded them both suspiciously. “Why should I believe you?”

“Because I am an angel of the Lord,” Castiel responded. “And because I have no more desire for Lucifer to escape this trap than you do.”

The detective seemed to think about that for a moment and then he reached over and undid Sam’s bonds. “Fine, you do it.”

He handed Sam a piece of chalk and Sam used it to redraw the symbol he’d previously indicated. Out of the corner of his eye he realised that Castiel had dripped a symbol in blood on to the floor. He really hoped that the angel knew what he was doing; it was a strange sensation being forced to trust him in place of his brother. But not as unpleasant as he would have imagined.

Once Sam was finished he stepped cautiously out of the way and glanced over at Castiel. Castiel nodded at him and then over at Dean; turned out those two at least did have their own shorthand.

Before Sam had time to do anything but react to already unfolding events, Dean was pulling the hostage to safety and fighting with her guard and Castiel was chanting in a language that Sam couldn’t recognise but that was making his hair stand on end.

And then, with a flash of light, he, Dean, Castiel and the girl were outside the house and screams were coming from inside, until they abruptly stopped.

“What the hell was that?” Dean asked.

“I noticed that one of the symbols inside was really a summoning spell for a demon called Bazael. It needed some angel blood to enhance its power.” He closed his eyes and swayed a little. Sam hurried forward and grabbed Castiel by the arm, lowering him gently to the ground.

“You okay?” he asked.

Castiel nodded weakly. “Such summoning spells take more out of me than they used to.”

Sam stayed hunched down next to Castiel, wondering if there was anything he could do to help the angel. A sudden urge to protect him was almost overwhelming.

“What happened to them?” Dean asked.

“Bazael has a habit of eating his followers.”

Sam turned back to Dean and raised an eyebrow. Dean just shrugged, Castiel’s occasional ruthlessness no longer came as much of a surprise to him.

“And that whole reverse symbol business?” Sam asked.

Castiel looked a little guilty “All subterfuge I’m afraid. The devil's trap can not be manipulated in that way.”

Sam patted Castiel on the leg. “Don’t worry, Cas. It worked, that’s the main thing. You think you can stand?”

“Oh crap,” Dean muttered before Castiel had time to respond. They looked over to see that events had clearly become too overwhelming for the hostage and she had vomited, all over Dean’s shoes.

Castiel’s lips began to twitch and then he and Sam were laughing together while Dean merely scowled at them. Sam leaned against Castiel and started to laugh even harder. He guessed the angel wasn’t so bad after all.

And another ally against Dean would come in handy for prank wars, if nothing else.


End file.
